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Virginia Gubernatorial Race Results Should Bolster the Grassroots

Tuesday night was pretty bleak for those of us that value freedom and liberty in state governance. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli mounted a valiant effort against a very well funded Democrat, Terry McAuliffe but fell just short of victory. The final tally shows that Cuccinelli lost by a mere 3 percentage points.

Today I'm reading all over that Ken Cuccinelli﻿ lost because he was a Tea Party extremist. Really? While GOP elites and consultants might find that reasoning acceptable, it simply doesn't check out. CNN exit polling showed Cuccinelli beating McAuliffe 50% to 44% among married men, and 51% to 42% among married women. He also won the coveted 18-24 demographic, by nearly 6 percentage points.

Via The Federalist: Yet for all the talk of Tea Party intransigence, the reality is that once the primaries and conventions are over, the sore losers in the bunch tend to all be on the money side, not the grassroots. The conservative base will swallow hard, grit their teeth, and back a moderate against a liberal time and again, just as Tea Party groups backed Mitt Romney and conservatives backed John McCain. But the donors typically find it a lot easier to take their ball and go home.

This wasn’t what the story was supposed to be in Virginia. Today, the Republican donor community is flailing desperately for a narrative to defend their decision to leave Cuccinelli high and dry as something other than a temper tantrum. The story was supposed to be that Terry McAuliffe and Bill Bolling were right: Cuccinelli was too extreme for Virginia, and it was time to get back to nominating the types of candidates they wanted. But Cuccinelli – even without the money, without the support, without the infrastructure – made it a race in the closing days, and now the donor class which said “screw it, I’m out” after the nomination fight played out are straining for excuses.

Cuccinelli lost big in the Northern Virginia precints, losing the DC lobbyists and the consultant class. I don't think that's a bad thing to keep in mind when we're talking about liberty and candidates who represent real Americans.

The real story here is of a campaign that was run the old school way: knocking on doors and making phone calls. There was a huge influx of young, energetic activists working for Cuccinelli on the ground. The grassroots is still great at running the groundgame that can close donation gaps and contribute to winning elections. When Cuccinelli coupled this activism and energy with voter anger over cancelled healthcare insurance, he was able to close a 10 point deficit in the polls.

Via IBD: In the final lap, as more Virginians received cancellation letters from insurers thanks to ObamaCare, Cuccinelli aggressively focused on health care. He pounded McAuliffe for supporting a Democrat law that's become an unmitigated disaster.

The strategy tightened the race. Exit polls show 53% of Virginia voters opposed ObamaCare, and four in five of them voted for Cuccinelli.

If he took that message to TV, he could have pulled off an upset. But he lacked the money. McAuliffe outspent him 10-to-1 on TV ads. Cuccinelli ran out of funds because the RNC pulled the plug on his campaign on Oct. 1, ironically the day of ObamaCare's botched launch.

Running against Obamacare is a winning strategy, which is good news for the GOP in 2014. Many Democrats are up for reelection and Obamacare stinks. It will continue to do so as Americans find out just "what is in the bill". More lies will be exposed leaving many Democrats vulnerable in the 2014 midterms.

I totally agree...if the Cucc wasn't fighting Fast Terry and the paid for Lib'ertarian, along with the Republican Nobliity Class. This should be a lesson for any Conservative running for public office...you maybe fighting multiple fronts

The House passed an amendment on June 19 to require the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant prior to collecting the communications of American citizens. This is pretty basic stuff, and it’s not a partisan issue - the amendment passed with the support of 158 Democrats and 135 Republicans.

FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe comment on Rep. Labrador's leadership run, "Rep. Labrador's impressive performance is indicative of a growing liberty caucus that is ready to make a policy agenda of individual liberty and fiscal responsibility a priority in the House. We are looking forward to an even bigger group of liberty leadership candidates after the elections in November."

This week, the GOP Executive Committee in South Carolina unanimously voted to reject Common Core standards. The resolution, which can be viewed here, is a huge step forward in the fight against Common Core.

Demographics matter, and after the disappointing 2012 election results, the GOP has decided it may be a good idea to focus on growing the party by reaching out to the youth and minority communities. Ignoring certain demographics will continue to hurt the party, as will ignoring key issues. Just like during the 2012 campaign cycle, the GOP is leaving out a key issue that could not only grow the party, but more importantly, could help millions of children receive a better education. I'm referring to school choice.

Senator Ted Cruz may be an outcast in Washington DC, and a thorn in the side of the Republican National Committee as well as GOP leadership, but at home he is a hero. This week citizens have been hosting rallies to welcome Senator Cruz back to the Lonestar state to publically applaud and thank him for his courageous stand against Obamacare and big government bureaucrats in both parties.

This morning, FreedomWorks CEO Matt Kibbe appeared on CSPAN to discuss the latest budget battle, as well as the perceived fracturing inside of the GOP. Kibbe was asked several questions about tactics, and about alternatives to ObamaCare, (which can be found here) but much of the interview was focused on the power struggle happening now inside the Republican party.

It's no secret that former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, has had a tremendous influence on young Americans. His message of fiscal responsibility and promotion of civil liberties is loud a clear. The youth are ready to bring real reform to government and are trying every way possible to influence their representatives, but where do they have the most influence? The Ron Paul Revolution, which started as a small, yet powerful, idea has sparked an even bigger reform: the transformation of the Republican Party.

In the fight to repeal Obamacare, establishment Republicans and the leftist media are teaming up to attack those urging that Obamacare be fully defunded. They say the conservatarian grassroots and Tea Party legions are being misled, because the task is impossible.